Watch Wednesday #40: 5 Anime Shows That I’ve Been Meaning to Catch-Up On

So, remember how last week I covered five American television shows that I’m behind on? Well, it’s a skill (or lack of skill?) of mine that applies to all avenues of television–anime included.

5 Anime Shows That I’ve Been Meaning to Catch-Up On

When it comes to actually finishing a show, I seem to have greater success with single-run shows like Korean dramas, or one-season animes. For some reason, no matter my interest in the show as a whole, I’m just horrid at completing full series!

I will say, however, that I am a boss at following manga series to the end. I’m not sure why I’m great with manga, and yet suck bottom with anime, but I’m sure there’s some deeply rooted emotional issue there or something, right?

1. Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan–giant, naked zombies. What’s not to love? At one point this insane show seemed to take over the world, and I was one of those people totally engrossed in the phenomenon. Attack on Titan had people who had not once even considered watching anime emotionally engrossed in, well, an anime! Utterly crisp and fluid animation, and a story that grips you with its brutal realities, Attack on Titan‘s first season had people basically losing their marbles.

I tuned in each week for the simulcast during 2013 and was a committed viewer through the entirety of season one. And yet, I’ve not touched a single episode of season two. My bad. Honestly, it was the huge gap between the two seasons. All that fanaticism in me had been overcast by the sheer anxiety of watching the show, I think, haha. So, when season two finally came out in 2017, I wasn’t quite ready to be re-stressed again, maybe?

2. Sailor Moon Crystal

Sailor Moon Crystal was a Moonie’s dream. A reboot that would tailor to the manga’s storyline? Color me excited. I watched the entirety of the first arc and legitimately enjoyed it–minus the horrid 3D animated transformation scenes, ugh. I especially was fangirl-ing about the season’s ending, because, ohemgee, so freaking good.

When the next part was released, I was ready to see how they would build on that, especially considering it was approaching my favorite story arc, and yet for some reason I haven’t gone back. Blame Korean dramas?

3. Fairy Tail

Now, I really do enjoy Fairy Tail. I’ve watched a good chunk of it and it’s built around excellent characters with a lot of humor and emotion to it. But, for me, the first part is a bit too… episodic, I guess? The characters are great, I appreciate the progression that they face in the first part of the series, but I guess I sort of felt like they weren’t entirely connected to each other yet, if that makes sense. As in, their grouping up really doesn’t mean much, they could’ve found their growth anywhere, it wasn’t necessarily important that they’ve met as a group.

Of course, this series tops many, many people’s lists, and from what I’ve gathering it picks up the further I go in, so I feel like if I just keep on keepin’ on with Fairy Tail I’ll eventually see all that chemistry and bonding that I see in fan art. Maybe?

4. Sword Art Online

Such a great series–well, what I’ve seen, at least! But really, could I be wrong? Sword Art Online is just as much of a worldwide recognized title as Attack on Titan. Great characters and insanely good plot, I binged through the entire first part until they make their way back to the real world–and that’s where I dropped off.

I think that the real world finance thing was a turn that felt weird to me. Like, unbelievable. Which, you know, felt wrong considering I had just watched a show about people being stuck in a video game for years. I don’t know why it turned me off of the show so much, but I need to get over it and pick Sword Art back up because I’ve heard great things about the proceeding series and films.

5. Noragami

Noragami is everything that I enjoy about supernatural anime. You’ve got all of this culture, mythology, and tradition within an incredibly complex and emotionally charged story. There’s this huge cast of characters, but they’re all built purposely within one another’s arcs. To put it simply, I love this show.

So why did I stop watching Noragami? To be honest, it’s because of the uncertainty of a season three ever coming out. I really do enjoy this show and I happily watched through season one, but I’m almost afraid to get even more attached in season two only to have no further resolution!